Larry Dishaw

My laboratory at USF is a comparative biology/basic science lab (in the College of Medicine) within a clinical department, Pediatrics. My research program is focused on understanding how gut immune systems interface with the environment, specifically the microbial components, i.e., the microbiome, and how these interactions shape immune (and developmental) ontogeny. We also study why lysogenized bacteria, or those that carry “dormant” viruses or prophages, matter within animal microbiomes. While I am focused on understanding how secreted immune effectors evolved to shape the ecology of microbiomes, the long-term interest is to contribute to our understanding of not just the evolution of gut immunity across phyla but also how exposure to diverse microbes shapes animal development and immune maturation, and this applies to human infants (especially those born prematurely). Our research leverages simpler model systems and focuses on premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit to address these questions better.